I have a quick question about 4 wheel drive as I've not ever had one before this truck.

My truck has the floor shifter and also has the manual locking mechanism on the hubs. Today I shifted into 4 wheel drive and just for kicks, I decided to get out and see if the hub lock had twisted all the way into the "Lock" position. I was able to turn it another quarter turn or so before it was completely locked.

Is this normal? Should I always get out and manually lock the front hubs? Seems like if that is the case then the shifter in the truck is pointless.

Please enlighten me because I'm kind of confused. Thanks so much.

 

The **** on the hub won't move itself when 4x4 is engaged. IF you have the lever on the floor then you have to get out of the truck and manually turn the hubs from FREE to LOCK when you want to engage the 4 Wheel Drive system.

 

Just to expand on what schmidt64 just said. The lever in the cab is for shifting the transfer case between 4x2, 4x4 high and 4x4 low. The switch at the hubs are for locking the hubs to the axle.

 

Being new is ok, you will learn.

You have a manual locking 4X4.....trouble free, and yes you can leave the hubs locked in. When on dry pavement under normal conditions, do not leave the truck in high lock.

Auto-Locking uses vacume to control the trans-case and hubs. This system has draw backs. In deep mud and water the vacume to operate the front axle locking hubs will draw outside contamination if the hub seals are worn.

 

So when we're getting bad snow as we are now, can I just leave the hubs manually locked and then use the floor shifter for 4WD whenever needed? Or, should I always get out and unlock/lock the hubs each time I use the floor shifter. I mean it's no big deal if that's what I have to do, I just don't want to fry something because I was ignorant.

Oh, and thanks for all the replies so quick, I appreciate it.

 

When the hubs are locked, all the components in the front axle are turning but are not receiving power from the engine. You can drive with the hubs locked, but in 2WD, but the components will wear out slightly faster and you'll get slightly less MPG.

 

Leave the hubs locked. If your traveling long distance and road conditions are nice, you can unlock for better mpg's

 

I prefer to say locking the hubs will keep the componets in working order....4X4, GVW and MPG's should never be used in the same sentence.......

 

Spot on.

Yes, you can leave the hubs locked driving around town, and then just pull the lever to get into 4x4. Never try to get to 4x4 LOW without stopping completely.

There is such a small amount of wear-and-tear on the front end when you leave the hubs locked that it doesn't matter. It is suggested you lock the hubs for a day once a month anyway to keep everything in the front end lubed.

As a matter of fact, running around WITHOUT the hubs locked, the inner spindle needle bearing (where the axle rides in) IS turning. So, that little bit of wear-and-tear is a tradeoff. It means nothing in the long run.

art k.

 

[QUOTE=krewat]Spot on.

Yes, you can leave the hubs locked driving around town, and then just pull the lever to get into 4x4. Never try to get to 4x4 LOW without stopping completely.

I lock my hubs the first time I need 4wd and usually leave them locked all winter, unless I'm going on a long road trip or we don't get snow for a while, then I'll unlock them. The beauty of this is you don't have to get out of your warm and toasty cab when you want 4wd, just reach down and shift the lever into 4HI. NEVER shift into 4LO on the fly, you have to come to a complete stop first. Also NEVER shift into 4wd if the hubs are unlocked, the front drivetrain isn't moving when the hubs are unlocked and you can do serious damage to your tranfer case. Hope this helps.....

 

VERY good advice!

I have ESOF now, so it doesn't really matter, but my '74 highboy would certainly grind when trying that one

 

Well, the fact that I needed to lock the hubs would explain why the front end was sliding some while driving home in a 7" snow storm last Thursday. I locked the hubs today and tried out the 4WD on a stretch of snowy road and it was awesome.

I do have one question though. I had the hubs locked driving around town and had no problems. On the way home from the Pacers game tonight, I jumped on the highway for about 5-10 minutes and was driving probably 60-70 MPH. After I got off the highway and the overdrive light began blinking, and from what I understand that is a transmission warning light. The interestng thing is that when I got home I shut the truck off for about 3 minutes and turned it back on and the light was not blinking anymore. I drove another 10 minutes home on regular suburb roads and it never came back on. Any thoughts?

To add to the previous issue, the Thursday night I was driving home in the snow storm, I had not locked the hubs because I didnt know any better yet but I did have it in 4HI. Now, I shifted into 4HI while stationary so I don't think that was an issue. However, it took nearly 3.5 hours to get home and about 20 minutes from home that light began blinking then also. It's never done this before and after I shut the truck off it didn't happen again. It seems like it only happens when I'm on the highway in either 4WD or have the hubs locked.

You guy's rock. Thanks for all the great advice. These beasts have a steep learning curve.

 

Not to be smart, but in the glove box is an owners manual. The blinking light is when a "slip" has been detected in the transmission. Any variation of power transfer from the input to output shaft will be detected. What year is the truck? Since you mention overdrive light 89-97 E4OD / 99-03 4R100 transmission.

 

It's a `99 F-350 Lariat, 7.3L Diesel, 4x4, DRW, CC. The truck has 86,000 miles on it. I read through the manual and that's how I figured out that the blinking was actually a warning. I was just kind of curious as to what the deal was since I hadn't seen it come on until now.

Thanks for mentioning the manual though because I do need to go through it again. Sometimes it's easy to forget something like that considering how simple it is to use the message boards.

 

No problem....people buy a used truck and the manual is gone. Online manuals are available in PDF form.

In real cold weather it is easy to set off the blinking light....this is just to let you know a power transfer from input to output was detected. If the truck was up to operating temperature you might be looking at a rebuild of the transmission or a shift selinoid problem.